Alabama Asks Supreme Court to Allow 2023 Congressional Map for 2026 Midterms

Alabama on Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to let the state use its 2023 congressional map for the 2026 midterm elections. The request came one day after a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in Birmingham refused to lift an order barring the map.

The panel had found that the map, which creates only one majority-Black district out of seven, intentionally discriminates against Black voters in violation of the Constitution. The court ordered Alabama to keep using the map drawn after a 2023 ruling that required two districts where Black residents form a majority or close to it.

the Dispute Alabama’s Republican-led

Legislature adopted the 2023 map after the state’s Black population share reached about 27 percent. The map was blocked for the 2024 elections and replaced by a court-drawn plan that produced two districts favorable to Black voters. Last month the Supreme Court ruled in a Louisiana case that drawing districts primarily on racial grounds can violate the Constitution.

Alabama officials then asked the three-judge panel to reconsider its earlier order in light of that decision. The panel reviewed the case and stood by its finding of intentional discrimination, stating there was “undisputed evidence” the 2023 plan was drawn to limit Black voting power.

The state asked the justices to decide the request by Monday, June 1.

Voters already cast ballots in Alabama’s May 19 primaries under the court-drawn map. Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has scheduled special primaries for Aug. 11 in four districts that would be affected if the 2023 map is reinstated. The state says the Supreme Court should allow the legislatively enacted map to stand for the remainder of the election cycle.